Asten pulled his hood tighter over his head as the rain came down harder, cold drops soaking through his jacket. The sky was gray and heavy — kind of like home lately. He hated being indoors when his parents were fighting, so he wandered, like usual, kicking at puddles and letting the storm drown out the noise in his head.

Then he saw it — a small cardboard box near the edge of the park, half-hidden behind a bush. It was sagging from the rain, almost collapsing in on itself, but something about it made Asten stop.

He crouched down and gently peeled back the wet flaps.

Inside was a child — a boy, no older than four, curled up tightly like he was trying to disappear. He was soaked, shivering, his tiny hands clinging to a tattered blanket that wasn’t doing much good. But what made Asten freeze wasn’t just how small he looked… it was the pair of soft, twitching cat ears atop his head. And the thin, shivering tail wrapped around his legs.

A hybrid.

The boy looked up at him, wide eyes filled with fear and something smaller — hope, maybe. He didn’t say anything. Just stared.

“Hey…” Asten said softly, reaching a hand out slowly, like he would for a stray animal. “You okay?”

The boy didn’t answer, but his ears twitched, and he blinked slowly, as if trying to figure out whether Asten was safe.

“You’re freezing,” Asten murmured, already slipping off his jacket. He gently lifted the little boy out of the box — he was so light it made Asten’s chest ache — and wrapped him up, careful to tuck in his tail.

The boy leaned against him, just a little, with a small sigh.

Asten looked down at him and whispered, “Let’s get you somewhere warm, yeah?”

He didn’t know what was going to happen next — but he knew one thing for sure. He wasn’t leaving this boy alone in the rain. Not like everyone else had.